- #26
Nereid
Staff Emeritus
Science Advisor
Gold Member
- 3,367
- 2
to points made by Ivan, Pollly, kat, ... - perceived hypocrisy
The global superpower which insists on democracy ... but refuses to accept the views of the majority when it don't like it (e.g. Kyoto).
... which trumpets 'the rule of law', but denies any law but its own (e.g. ICC), or flounts legal decisions of bodies it happily uses to ram its interests through otherwise (e.g. WTO)
... which insists on 'free trade', but happily denies the benefits of just that to partners and strangers alike (e.g. west African cotton farmers, Australian sugar growers, Korean steel producers, ....)
... cynically changes the 'ground rules' in mid-game on IPR, to exploit ('arbitrage') LDCs' weak IPR infrastructure (many examples).
Of course none of this behaviour is surprising, given that the prime objective of all nations' foreign affairs is national self-interest. However, what's galling is the degree to which the marketing machine has sugar-coated the naked self-interest in fine-sounding phrases and appeals to worthy ideals. Worse, lots of upright US citizens have bought the story and can't see how hypocritical they appear.
The global superpower which insists on democracy ... but refuses to accept the views of the majority when it don't like it (e.g. Kyoto).
... which trumpets 'the rule of law', but denies any law but its own (e.g. ICC), or flounts legal decisions of bodies it happily uses to ram its interests through otherwise (e.g. WTO)
... which insists on 'free trade', but happily denies the benefits of just that to partners and strangers alike (e.g. west African cotton farmers, Australian sugar growers, Korean steel producers, ....)
... cynically changes the 'ground rules' in mid-game on IPR, to exploit ('arbitrage') LDCs' weak IPR infrastructure (many examples).
Of course none of this behaviour is surprising, given that the prime objective of all nations' foreign affairs is national self-interest. However, what's galling is the degree to which the marketing machine has sugar-coated the naked self-interest in fine-sounding phrases and appeals to worthy ideals. Worse, lots of upright US citizens have bought the story and can't see how hypocritical they appear.